sailing heros ??

[Captain Smollett]

Now I haven't watched any other self documented films from anyone else,not intentionaly anyway,but he sure looked scared and disorintated to me,Kays on the other hand sent home the reality of loneliness.Help me out,tell me.Mudnut.

If you get a chance, check out "With Jean Du Sud Around the World" by Yves Gellinas.  He was a filmmaker before setting out on his solo circumnavigation, and filmed the entire trip.  He's pretty candid about his shortcomings/mistakes and shows a very high order of seamanship.

Great film.

[AdriftAtSea]

IIRC, he's also the inventor of the Cape Horn windvane, and his website is located HERE. His boat, Jean du Sud, is an Alberg 30. :)

Now I haven't watched any other self documented films from anyone else,not intentionaly anyway,but he sure looked scared and disorintated to me,Kays on the other hand sent home the reality of loneliness.Help me out,tell me.Mudnut.

If you get a chance, check out "With Jean Du Sud Around the World" by Yves Gellinas.  He was a filmmaker before setting out on his solo circumnavigation, and filmed the entire trip.  He's pretty candid about his shortcomings/mistakes and shows a very high order of seamanship.

Great film.

[saxon]

While you're discussing French sailing folk...Last year I was in the Canaries prior to crossing to the Caribbean, and got friendly with a French singlehander in a 25 foot self built alluminium boat. "Where are you bound for?" I asked.
"Senegal", he replied
"Senegal !! I said, there's only a big river there, with famine on one bank and civil war on the other"
He looked at me, grinned, and gave a typical French shrug of the shoulders and said
"Zen I stay in ze middle of ze river!!!"   ;D ;D ;D ( you have to give 'em credit..)

My sailing heroes, Shane Acton of 'Shrimpy' and Bernard Moitessier of 'Joshua'

[mudnut]

Hey Nick,"Not bad for caned soup heh",done well.
                                                                                                                       
AdriftAtSea,I've been to his web site,courtesy of the link from sailfar,most people speak well of the windvane.It's on my list of must have when the time comes.
                                                                                                                 
Captain Smollett,I will deffinately try to get a copy,Thanks all.Mudnut.

[Sandy]

Kinda funny who we choose as our hero's.My hero doesn't' have thousands of sea miles behind him,and most folks wouldn't recognize his name.He hasn't written any books and was far from famous.  Mine is my dad,Stan Davis. He taught me how to sail as soon as I was old enough to grab the tiller.  He sailed an O'Day mariner for over 25 years while raising a family of four,providing each a loving home and a chance for a college education.  He taught his son (me) how to love mother nature,and how to respect her and take care of her for the generations to come.

He taught me how to live within my means.Be kind to others if you expect the same in return,to teach by example. Be happy with what we have,and not to dwell on things beyond our grasp. To enjoy life whenever you can,and the power of a friendly smile.

He taught me to dream,and not loose sight of those dreams no matter how hectic life gets.

Dad died when he turned 67. He had fullfiled his dream of raising a happy well adjusted family,and was preparing to fullfill the dreams he had put on hold until his children were  on their own.  He had bought a bigger boat(O'Day 27) and he and mom were heading South to cruise the Keys,and eventually end up in the Bahamas.Mom sold the boat the following fall.

My Dad taught me a ton of valuable lessons I still fall back on to this day,15 years latter.The one I hold dearest is that life is truly precious.Try to live each day like it's your last. Life is short,and the journey is long.

I know this probably isn't what the intent of this thread was,but it makes me feel good to share a bit of the story behind who I consider the most influential sailing hero to me. He was a great man,and he is missed.

FairWinds
-Sandy Davis

[AdriftAtSea]

Sandy-

Sounds like a good choice to me. :)

[saxon]

I think your Dad was eminently worthy of the title hero, Sandy. Sometimes true heroes do not gain recognition or medals, they just leave quietly, but with honour.   Saxon

[Pappy Jack]

Hi Sandy,

I wish I could have met your dad. He sounds like he was one heck of
a guy. It just goes to proves that the good die young.

Fair winds,

Pappy Jack

[Oldrig]

Pretty heroic story, Sandy.

(I sailed an O'Day Mariner during my late teens and early 20s, FWIW.)

--Joe

[vinegarj]

David Lewis....participated in the first transatlantic singlehanded race (in a small sailboat that immediately dismasted - "The Ship Would Not Travel Due West"), first to singlehand to antartica, physician, moutain climber, explorer, crazy lady's man, anthropologist, communist/socialist, studied and memorialized the ancient navigation techniques of the polynesians ("We, The Navigators"), many other sailing adventures and wrote several books about his adventures, died in the last couple of years (in his eighties).   one thing that i find particularly inspiring about lewis' life is that he really didn't get rolling on his sailing adventures until his mid-40's and thereafter he managed to raise heck almost until his death.   his autobiography is "Shapes on the Wind."

[vinegarj]

David Lewis on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Henry_Lewis

[CharlieJ]

One point in the Wikipedia account that needs some clarification. This paragraph-

"Lewis' next adventure was an attempt at circumnavigating Antarctica single-handed. For this he acquired a small steel yacht, named Ice Bird. Facing treacherous conditions in the Southern Ocean after departing, Lewis was not heard from for 13 weeks but –incredibly-- frostbitten and exhausted, sailed Ice Bird to the Antarctic Peninsula under a jury rig after dismasting. He repaired the vessel in Antarctica and left again to complete the voyage, but was capsized again and eventually brought the boat to Cape Town, South Africa. This is described in his bestseller book, Ice Bird."

Is true, but leaves out a huge bit of info. He repaired his boat with LARGE amounts of assistance from the Calypso ( of Cousteau fame) but gave them zero credit in his book. I spent an afternoon with Madame Cousteau aboard Calypso and we spoke of Lewis. She was NOT particularly happy with him. The crew of Calypso most likely saved his life, gave him supplies, opened their communications for him,  and rendered assistance in repairing the boat and nursed him with food and warmth while he was doing the repairs. She felt that Calypso and her crew should have been given more credit in the book. I have to agree. He was extremely fortunate that Calypso was at anchor there when he came in.

Madame Cousteau lived aboard Calypso full time by the way and was aboard during the Antarctic voyage.

Not to denigrate what Dr Lewis did as a sailor- I had the book "Ice Bird" and still own "We, The Navigators" very interesting man and interesting books.

[AdriftAtSea]

It's a darn shame that Lewis feels he had to slight the Cousteaus and the crew of the Calypso to make his exploits seem more noteworthy.  I think it would be far better to give credit where credit is due.

[vinegarj]

it's interesting to hear ms. cousteau's view.  who knows what the reality was?  i just reread the chapters in Ice Bird in which lewis details his time at the palmer antarctic station where calypso was also anchored and, no, he doesn't give credit/thanks to calypso for any help in the repairs of his boat or the recovery of his health (as to his health, he almost immediately moved onshore to recover at the palmer station).   but he certainly isn't shy about giving credit for all the help/work provided by the folks living  at the palmer station ("any successes Ice Bird and I may subsequently achieve are due to the efforts of the men of Palmer Station....").  and at the end of  the book he provides thanks/acknowledgement to just about anybody that provided him any assistance in his adventure. 

[vinegarj]

how 'bout Peter Kittel?  may he r.i.p.
wandered the seas for many years in small boats that he had salvaged.
had a wonderful website (that just went dead recently), loved whales, was totally accessible to anyone who had a question about sailing, and lived the dream on a shoestring budget.

[CapnK]

I wish I could find my copy of "Bluewater"...  ??? With that in mind, I was doing some searching to see if it was online anywhere, and made a relevant find - which wound up in my necro'ing of this old thread...  ;D

---------

Here's a link to a story from the 1989 'Modesto Bee' newspaper that is about Nancy Griffith, who was still mastering a tramp steamer/sailer in the SoPac at that time. The article references the fact that she had "Awanhee" towed to sea and given a 'Viking funeral' some years prior...

Jan 15, 1989 'Modesto Bee'.

[tomwatt]

William Bligh (who might not have been someone I'd enjoy chatting with, but his sailing deeds seem impressive), who in 1789 took a crew of 18 in a 23' launch (lifeboat or oversized dinghy?) with no charts or compass guided the boat & crew to safety on a 3500+ nm journey using a sextant and a pocket watch. I don't think the deed qualifies as "cruising" but it certainly was a masterwork of sailing. Famous (infamous?) as the captain of the HMS Bounty, he must have been an interesting character.
I'm certainly not knocking anyone else's choices, and not sure Bligh would represent a very happy soul for an evening of conversation, but it's interesting to note that he is supposed to have learned navigation from Captain Cook, and must have been a heck of a sailor.

[CharlieJ]

Haiden- Laura and I have a friend who met them once. Told us they were a fascinating couple.

[Bubba the Pirate]

Funny that this came up again.  I'm currently reading Moitessier's The Long Way with a copy of his A Sea Vagabonds World nearby that I'm dipping into occasionally.  He is Sailing/Spiritual/Philosophy Hero material. 

Also, John Kretchmer, James Baldwin, Webb Chiles, Fred Bickum, Robin Lee Graham, Robin Knox-Johnston, Tania Aebi,  . . .

        . . . . I'm sure I'll think of some more as soon as I hit "Post."

Todd

[AdriftAtSea]

Of course, a more recent and still living sailor, who accomplished much in something not muc better than Bligh's lifeboat is Webb Chiles.  He took an 18' Drascombe Lugger around most of the world... technically, it was two Drascombe Luggers, as the first was confiscated by Egypt and the second was sent to him by the company so that he could continue.  He recently finished his fifth circumnavigation and is back in Chicago.  I had the pleasure of meeting Webb just before he and his wife moved to Chicago.

William Bligh (who might not have been someone I'd enjoy chatting with, but his sailing deeds seem impressive), who in 1789 took a crew of 18 in a 23' launch (lifeboat or oversized dinghy?) with no charts or compass guided the boat & crew to safety on a 3500+ nm journey using a sextant and a pocket watch. I don't think the deed qualifies as "cruising" but it certainly was a masterwork of sailing. Famous (infamous?) as the captain of the HMS Bounty, he must have been an interesting character.
I'm certainly not knocking anyone else's choices, and not sure Bligh would represent a very happy soul for an evening of conversation, but it's interesting to note that he is supposed to have learned navigation from Captain Cook, and must have been a heck of a sailor.